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Press Release

ADL Slams Farrakhan For Blaming Jews For Financial Ruin Of Blacks

New York, NY, June 29, 2010 … With a letter to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) enclosing two virulently anti-Semitic "histories," including a newly written volume claiming Jews for centuries have worked to financially undermine Black people, Minister Louis Farrakhan has "opened a new chapter in his ministry where scapegoating Jews is no longer just part of a message, but the message."

In the letter addressed to ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman, Minister Farrakhan accused Jewish leaders of using accusations of anti-Semitism as a means to hide the truth and to silence criticism "of what I and many others feel is Jewish behavior that has ill-affected Black people and others."

Minister Farrakhan's June 24 letter was sent to numerous American Jewish leaders along with copies of the now two-volume work, "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews," an anti-Semitic screed written and published by the Nation of Islam's "Historical Research Department."

"Never, in our more than 20 years of following Minister Louis Farrakhan, have we seen him so obsessively devoted to his hate crusade against Jews," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "His anti-Semitism is obsessive, diabolical and unrestrained. He has opened a new chapter in his ministry where scapegoating Jews is not just part of a message, but the message."

Farrakhan's missive accused Foxman and other Jewish leaders of being guilty of "the most vehement anti-Black behavior in the annals of our history in America and the world," before extending an offer of dialogue to "help me in the repair of my people from the damage that has been done by your ancestors to mine."

Farrakhan wrote that his message was not written out of hatred or bitterness, but because "One greater than you and me has permitted this for His own wise purposes."

Mr. Foxman said, "Dialogue does not begin with bigoted accusations. Farrakhan's call for dialogue with Jews is so outrageous and disingenuous that you can't believe anyone would take him seriously. And yet he continues to fill convention centers with those eager to bear witness to his bigotry, and to believe that he holds the truth. One wonders why there aren't more voices in the African-American community willing to stand up and reject his hatred, his anti-Semitism. When will good people in the community be courageous enough to stand up and say, 'enough already?'"

During a sold-out speech on June 26 to thousands of followers at the Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Farrakhan, whose anti-Semitic rhetoric has been monitored by ADL for decades, announced his intention to present the newly written anti-Semitic book to Jewish leaders on behalf of the NOI. Like the book itself, Farrakhan's speech was rife with conspiracy theories about Jews and Israel and Jewish control of government, finance and Hollywood.

"Today the Jewish people have developed a new strategy," he told the audience in the speech, titled "Who are the Real Children of Israel?" "They have always tied themselves to Black people. They attach themselves to our talent. They are the managers, the agents and they are the accountants and that's why our black artists loved fame and got fame but died poor because somebody else got their money."

"No black man or woman becomes a multimillionaire without friendship in the Jewish community," he added.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.